All posts filed under: Designing fashion

It’s September! Fantastic, inspiring, surprising September – at least if you are into fashion. While a considerate amount of people follow the catwalk shows on pages like Vogue.com, and perhaps even share them on social media, while considering ‘could I wear that?’ (or afford that?), there’s another and more systematic and analytical task to do, if you actually study or work in fashion. That is analysing what you see, and extracting the information into the strongest fashion show trends ss16. Because every new season is a follow-up of the past season, which is again building on all the ones that came before. Understanding where fashion is coming from is one of the best ways to understanding, where it’s going. If you work in fashion, this is crucial for you to have a feeling about. So how to go about this analysis? I would recommend creating a folder on your desktop or alternatively a Board on Pinterest, as we also did, where you can store all the looks, you find exciting. Perhaps Pinterest is a more …

Fashion trends are magical and intangible things that seem to come from nowhere, overtake us all for a season or two, and then disappear as suddenly, as they came. But is it actually so, and if yes; how do fashion trends evolve? As can be observed, it’s true that most trends only last for a limited amount of time (also named FADs), but they actually come from somewhere. If you learn to see the patterns, you will be able to code what will be the next trend, as well as dictating the trends, if you work for the very powerful or trendsetting brands. Trends come from a number of places, and the two most important are the catwalk show of the big brands and the streets. In the old days, when fashion was something only available to the elite and non-working upper class, trends were born at the top, and then trickled down trough the layers. This was called the Trickle-Down effect, and is what happens, when a trend is born at the catwalk, and …

I have sometimes been sitting front row at fashion shows of upcoming designers with the purpose of writing fashion show reviews about the collection for various publications. It’s a different part of the process compared to being ‘work-in-progress’, which is where I’m normally involved either as a fashion tutor or fashion designer. The magic of the big culmination, the fashion show, is breathtaking, and the runway models pass fast one after the other. The attendees are concentrated though still enjoying themselves, as the catwalk models pass by quickly one after the other. Often there will be a short description about the collection and inspiration lying on your seat, and this will prepare you for the show. Having an idea about what you’re going to see together with some key words about the collection are helpful, when the show starts. Here you need to be alert in order to make photos for reference and perhaps writing down a few key words. This is useful for your fashion show reviews, but a part from the technical aspect …

Collecting images for fashion research A good research is crucial for a good fashion collection, as everything starts from here. It’s important you feel strongly motivated with what you choose to work with, as well as choosing something that’s relevant to the consumer, and right for the brand you create for (read more about that here). If you don’t love your research (and I chose the word love on purpose, because you need to love it, not just like it), you will never love your collection, and if you don’t, most likely no one else will. When collecting images for fashion research, the images you put in your research must give you a direction and spark ideas in your mind about: Mood: Always an important and first step. It’s the feel of the collection, and everything springs from here. If you don’t have a clear idea about this, the entire research will be messy. Type of woman (or man): This is what I call a Muse. A Muse is someone who inhabits the imaginary world …

I’ve previously discussed the importance of making a research that you love, as the only starting point for making a strong fashion collection, but other matters are just as important. As a fashion designer, you may have an intuition for style, and be a first mover of trying new and strong ideas, but ultimately your creations will only be successful, if they matter to the consumer. So when is a fashion collection relevant? In this, there’s a lot of marketing and other aspects to discuss, but if we for a moment concentrate on the actual fashion collection and product, here’s some considerations to take into account. What is the secret to choosing something that’s relevant to the consumer? Three things are important here: being aware of what fashion has been like lately, having an intuition of where fashion is heading and understanding your consumer. So, in order to be up-to-date of what happens in the fashion world, it’s important to follow the big brands, read magazines and perhaps follow a few bloggers or other trend-setting …

Fashion illustration. Try to Google it and see what happens. Amazing, right? Wonderful, wonderful fashion illustration. The image featured above is from a book about Christian Dior, one of the greatest and most celebrated couturiers that ever lived. Dior had a great line, and did beautiful drawings, but over the years, he also developed a close working relationship with René Gruau, who’s the artist behind the featured image. The reason for this was that Gruau was an extremely talented illustrator, and when he put pen and colours to paper, something magical happened. His women are flirty, sensual, elegant, coquettish and sometimes shy – all things that Dior’s women were too. I saw Gruau’s exhibition in Somerset House in London. I tried not to cry. Fashion illustration is a very personal thing, and I never met a passionate fashion designer, who didn’t feel strongly about his own illustrations. It’s not always that a designer loves his own illustration style, but it’s always something that transmits emotion. It’s a kind of relationship between you and the drawing …

The Fashion Collection Theme Lately I travelled to Turkey, and as always the travelling sparked my aesthetic side and imagination. As I’ve previously written about, getting out of your normal day-to-day life can be the source of new ideas (read more about that here). I don’t think that the inspiration, I came home with, was particularly Turkish – I entitled it ‘Decorative Arts and Dusty Pink’ – or linked to the actual place, but this doesn’t matter. I saw things there that made sense in my mind with things, I’ve previously seen, and all of a sudden I had a new theme. This, I believe, is very much how the research process works. We see and hear a lot of things, and a lot of it we forget or don’t even notice. Some of it, though, is stored in our minds, and perhaps the situation arises where we pull it out from the storage, perhaps not. Explaining how to research is one of the hardest things to teach students, and I think it’s very individual, …

Travelling and Fashion Design Inspiration ‘To travel is to live’, the famous writer Hans Christian Andersen once said. I’ve travelled quite a lot, and I agree. I’ve spoken to people, who have travelled quite a lot, and they agree too. In this, there’s actually nothing new, but I would like to emphasize just how important I think, it is, and why. Let’s start with why (from the back – just because it’s more fun). When you travel, what you think about will change. Getting out of your rhythm and everyday life will leave your short view perspective of day-to-day tasks at home, and this will leave free space in your mind to be allowed to fill up with something else – and more important matters. What are the things in life, you really want to do? Often we have but a few, but really strong dreams, we wish to pursue. Are you on the path of doing this, and are you feeling satisfied? This voice is important to listen to, and you hear it only …